Latest news with #Stage3
Yahoo
21-03-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
$7,000 ‘stealth tax' hitting Aussies every year: ‘Will become worse'
Australian couples are paying an extra $7,000 in income tax each year due to bracket creep. Tax experts say the 'stealth tax' is already hitting Aussies hard, with lower and middle-income earners bearing the brunt. Workers paid $3,500 more in tax last financial year due to bracket creep, with dual-income households paying an extra $7,000 despite the government's revised Stage 3 tax cuts. That's according to a new analysis of Parliamentary Budget Office and ATO figures prepared by the Liberal Party. H&R Block director of tax communications Mark Chapman told Yahoo Finance bracket creep came about when rising wages and inflation pulled people into higher tax brackets, even where there had been no changes to tax rates and thresholds. RELATED Accountant's ATO warning after $20,000 tax refund is refused: 'Getting stricter' Centrelink change to see thousands more Aussies eligible for age pension Coles, Woolworths trick to get $100 off grocery bill every month: 'Beat them at their own game' 'If we look at somebody who's on a salary of say $130,000, that person's marginal tax rate is currently 30 per cent, which is the rate that applies up to $135,000,' Chapman said. 'Say the $135,000 threshold remains fixed over the course of the next few years, but she enjoys an annual pay rise of 3 per cent each year. 'In the second year, she'll be earning more than $135,000, which means her top marginal tax rate will now be 37 per cent.'Chapman said the argument was the worker was 'doing the same job" and "hadn't received a promotion' but because there hadn't been changes to tax rates or thresholds, she would be paying tax at a higher rate on part of her income. 'That will continue for each year and it will become worse for each year. For each year thereafter, she'll pay an increasing proportion of her wages at the 37 per cent rate as long as she gets a pay rise each year and providing the threshold doesn't change,' he said. Forecasts by economist Chris Richardson, released by the Australian Financial Review, found bracket creep could push the average Australian full-time worker from the 30 per cent bracket into the 37 per cent bracket by 2031. Chapman said both governments tended to leave tax thresholds the same as a kind of 'stealth tax' with most taxpayers not noticing they're paying more tax due to their salary increasing. Chapman said high-income earners were not affected by bracket creep 'at all' if they had already hit the tax threshold of $190,000 for the highest tax rate of 45 per cent. 'It is certainly an issue for lower and middle-income taxpayers because there are three tax brackets in between the tax-free threshold and $190,000 which people can potentially go through,' he told Yahoo Finance. 'It is certainly a real problem because people's incomes are increasing and therefore they're potentially moving into a higher tax bracket. 'Obviously it's better than not having a wage increase or a wage increase that is less than inflation. You've got to choose the lesser of two evils.' The federal government's revised Stage 3 tax cuts cut the 19 per cent tax rate to 16 per cent, and the 32.5 per cent tax rate to 30 per cent. The 37 per cent rate was retained with the threshold increased from $120,000 to $135,000, while the 45 per cent rate was retained with the threshold going from $180,000 to $190,000. Chapman said this was a 'substantial' increase to tax thresholds but it was a 'one-off hit' when bracket creep was happening 'every year'. Raising the tax brackets in line with annual inflation could be a 'sensible' step to take, he said, and would effectively give workers a nominal tax cut on July 1 each year. 'The problem is that governments do like fixed tax brackets because each year they drag in more and more people into the higher tax brackets and by and large many of those people don't notice and don't make an issue of it unlike other forms of tax increases which are far more visible,' Chapman said. Neither Labor nor the Coalition have committed to income tax cuts this upcoming federal election. Treasurer Jim Chalmers has hit out at shadow treasury spokesperson Angus Taylor's 'dodgy numbers' and said they 'don't include more than $20 billion in tax cuts that Australian workers are receiving in 2024-25 alone'. Eight independent MPs, including all the Teals, have written to Chalmers to urge the government to index income tax thresholds to inflation. They argued this would "protect the wages of future generations of Australian workers while removing the bracket creep safety net which governments of both sides fall back on to raise revenue". Australia is among the 21 OECD countries, out of 35, that don't increase tax brackets to account for inflation or wage growth each year. Canada, for example, changes its tax brackets every year to adjust for inflation, while European countries like Belgium, Norway and France adjust their tax brackets in to access your portfolio
Yahoo
16-02-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Cheniere Energy, Inc. (LNG): Among the Best Natural Gas Stocks to Buy Now
We recently published a list of . In this article, we are going to take a look at where Cheniere Energy, Inc. (NYSE:LNG) stands against other best natural gas stocks to buy now. The United States of America is the Top Natural Gas Producing Country in the World, courtesy of horizontal drilling and hydraulic fracturing techniques, notably in shale, sandstone, carbonate, and other tight geologic formations. The country's dry natural gas production reached 103.6 billion cubic feet per day (bcfd) in 2023, up 4.3% from 2022 and the highest for any year on record, dating back to 1930, according to 2023 Natural Gas Annual. The US was also a net exporter of natural gas for the seventh consecutive year in 2023, transporting gas to 42 countries during the year. READ ALSO: 10 Best Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) Stocks to Buy in 2025 After a stellar 2023, the US natural gas output slumped slightly last year due to prices falling to multi-decade lows, but production is expected to climb to 104.5 bcfd in 2025, as a period of strong demand and improved prices spark a resurgence in production. Analysts expect average annual gas prices to increase by more than 40% this year over the levels seen in 2024, as demand is projected to grow mainly due to a jump in LNG exports. The demand surge is largely attributed to new LNG export facilities, like Plaquemines LNG and Corpus Christi Stage 3, coming online, while the Golden Pass LNG project is also anticipated to begin operations by mid-2026. Europe remains a top destination for American liquified natural gas. The continent has had to rely significantly more on imported LNG and less on gas delivered via pipelines from Russia since the Putin government's invasion of Ukraine in 2022. The American LNG sector is also set to receive a significant boost after President Donald Trump issued an order last month to lift a freeze on new US licenses to export liquefied natural gas, making good on a campaign pledge to rescind the measure. The country's natural gas sector is also expected to benefit significantly from the ongoing AI boom and the accompanying data centers, as several dozen new gas-fired power plants are expected to be built in the US in the next few years. According to energy data provider Enverus, a total of 80 new gas power plants could be constructed in America by 2030, adding about 46 GW of new capacity – 20% higher than the gas capacity additions in the last five years. According to data from S&P Global Commodity Insights, if even a quarter of the projected data center load is supplied by gas-fired generation, this would translate to a 2% increase in total US gas demand in 2040. The energy sector has witnessed considerable fluctuations over the last few months, surging by over 6% in November before declining around 10% in December. However, the broader energy sector (roughly 1/3rd of which is made up of natural gas companies) ended last year with a return of just 5.72%, significantly lagging behind gains of 25% by the wider market. To collect data for this article, we scanned Insider Monkey's database of 900 hedge funds and picked the top 11 companies operating in the natural gas sector with the highest number of hedge fund investors in Q3 of 2024. When two or more companies had the same number of hedge funds investing in them, we ranked them by the revenue of their last financial year. Following are the Best Natural Gas Stocks to Buy According to Hedge Funds. At Insider Monkey we are obsessed with the stocks that hedge funds pile into. The reason is simple: our research has shown that we can outperform the market by imitating the top stock picks of the best hedge funds. Our quarterly newsletter's strategy selects 14 small-cap and large-cap stocks every quarter and has returned 275% since May 2014, beating its benchmark by 150 percentage points (see more details here). Close-up of a liquefied natural gas terminal expelling plumes of smoke. Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 62 Headquartered in Texas, Cheniere Energy, Inc. (NYSE:LNG) is the largest producer of LNG in the United States and the second-largest LNG operator in the world. Cheniere's energy infrastructure represents over $38 billion investment in the future of energy, supplying LNG to dozens of markets on five continents. During Q3 of 2024, Cheniere Energy, Inc. (NYSE:LNG) reported a revenue of $3.76 billion, down 9.5% YoY and missing consensus estimates by over $16 million, primarily due to declining international LNG and gas prices. The company generated $2.7 billion of distributable cash flow during the first nine months of 2024, allowing it to repurchase $2 billion of shares and repay $450 million of long-term debt. Cheniere also declared a quarterly dividend of $0.5 per share in January and intends to follow through with its guidance of growing its dividend by approximately 10% annually through the end of this decade. After President Trump ended the pause on permits for new LNG export projects, more and more Indian oil firms are interested in buying LNG from the US. It was reported this week that Indian Oil is in talks with Cheniere Energy, Inc. (NYSE:LNG) to sign a 15-year LNG deal, with volumes between 1.5 million to 2 million metric tons annually, beginning in April 2027. India, along with other Asian buyers, is looking to secure more energy deals with the United States to avoid the tariff spree of the Trump administration. Overall, LNG ranks 5th on our list of best natural gas stocks to buy now. While we acknowledge the potential for LNG to grow, our conviction lies in the belief that some AI stocks hold greater promise for delivering higher returns and doing so within a shorter time frame. If you are looking for an AI stock that is more promising than LNG but that trades at less than 5 times its earnings, check out our report about the cheapest AI stock. READ NEXT: 20 Best AI Stocks To Buy Now and Complete List of 59 AI Companies Under $2 Billion in Market Cap Disclosure: None. This article is originally published at Insider Monkey. Sign in to access your portfolio
Observer
10-02-2025
- Sport
- Observer
Gaudu outsprints Yates to take red
Muscat, FEB 10 Groupama – FDJ's David Gaudu and defending champion Adam Yates of UAE Team Emirates climbed up the ladder in Tour of Oman 2025 to take the top two spots in the overall classification after finishing in the same positions in the mountain stage on Monday. The French rider outsprinted the British cyclist by one second to win the 180.8-kilometre Stage 3 in four hours, 16 minutes and 10 seconds. Yates was second (04:16:11), as Australia's Damien Howson (Q36.5 Pro Cycling Team) claimed third in 04:16:15. Soudal Quick-Step's Valentin Paret-Peintre (04:16:23) came fourth with his best young rider jersey ahead of Tudor's Marco Brenner (04:16:23). Valentin's teammate Louis Vervaeke, who started the day in the red jersey, fought valiantly but ceded the lead when he was dropped in the final 3km. In the first of Tour of Oman's two summit finishes, the climbers went head to head on Eastern Mountain (1,016 metres), under the gaze of Jabal Sham (3,018 metres), the highest peak in Oman. Gaudu proved strongest in the long-awaited duel against Yates after firing off multiple attacks within the last few hundred metres of the final ascent (4.8 km at 8.5%). Gaudu has 6 seconds in hand over Yates and 12 over Howson going into the last two stages. ''We are already focused on Green Mountain. We will try to keep the red jersey and maybe win a second stage,'' he said. The French cyclist thanked his team. 'I am grateful for the team's work. I have never won a general classification, and we will try to maintain this lead until the end.' In Fanja, 117 riders who had reached Yitti Hills on Sunday were at the start line. Six men made an early move: Nicolas Vinokourov (XDS Astana), Rayan Boulahoite (TotalEnergies), Nur Amirull Mazuki (Terengganu), Andreas Miltiadis (Roojai Insurance) and the Omani national team members Said al Rahbi and Mohamed al Wahibi. It was Soudal Quick-Step that set the pace in the bunch to keep the gap below three minutes after it peaked at 3′20″. UAE Team Emirates XRG soon arrived to defend the interests of Adam Yates. CARNAGE Meanwhile, utter carnage unfolded in the breakaway, with Al Rahbi, Miltiadis and Mazuki cracking at 118, 111 and 102 km to go, respectively, leaving Vinokourov Jr and Boulahoite alone at the front for the final 100 km. Unperturbed, the two men kept going and went through the first intermediate sprint at Birkat Al Mouz (58 km to go) with a 2-minute advantage. Vinokourov took top points, while Kevin Vermaerke (Picnic PostNL) led the peloton across the line and picked up a bonus second. The pack was in no hurry to shut down the breakaway, allowing the difference to grow back to three minutes. It was still 2′05″ by the time that Vinokourov gapped Boulahoite 10 km from the line. Vinokourov got caught 2.7 km from the line, around the time that Vervaeke got separated from the main group after working at the front of the peloton. Groupama–FDJ took over from there. Clement Braz Afonso put in a mammoth shift to set up his leader Gaudu for an attack. Despite repeated attempts, the French rider was unable to open up a gap, with Yates close on his wheel. Nevertheless, Gaudu kept his nose ahead in a fiercely contested sprint for the stage win, which also raised him to the top of the leaderboard. Tour of Oman Stage 3 Results Rank, Rider, Country, Team, Time 1. David Gaudu, France, Groupama-FDJ, 04:16:10 2. Adam Yates, Great Britain, UAE Team Emirates – XRG, 04:16:11 3. Damien Craig Howson, Australia, Q36.5 Pro Cycling Team, 04:16:15 4. Valentin Paret Peintre, France, Soudal Quick-Step, 04:16:23 5. Marco Brenner, Germany, Tudor Pro Cycling Team, 04:16:23 6. Cian Uijtdebroeks, Belgium, Team Visma|Lease A Bike, 04:16:26 7. Chris Harper, Australia, Team Jayco AlUla, 04:16:26 8. Diego Ulissi, Italy, XDS Astana Team, 04:16:33 9. Ruben Guerreiro, Portugal, Movistar Team, 04:16:33 10. Wout Poels, Netherlands, XDS Astana Team, 04:16:33
Yahoo
29-01-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
‘Done all we can:' Albo's big call on rates
Anthony Albanese says his government has done 'all we can' to reduce inflation, paving the way for the Reserve Bank to cut the official cash rate at its meeting in four weeks time. With the election due by May 17, the government is hoping for at least one rate cut before facing voters struggling with cost of living pressures. Despite this, the Prime Minister says he doesn't believe Labor's chances of a re-election will hinge on the central bank delivering long-waited rate relief. He added that Australia was performing better than fellow industrialised countries which were in 'economic decline,' and likened lowering inflation while providing non-inflationary cost-of-living relief to 'landing a (Boeing) 747 on a helicopter pad'. 'What I would say is this that we have done all we can as a government to create better conditions for monetary policy to work together with what the government has done,' he told Sky News. Mr Albanese reiterated that headline inflation was now down to 2.8 per cent – within the RBA's target 2 to 3 per cent band. However, underlying inflation – which removes temporary fluctuations such government energy rebates – remained above target at 3.4 per cent. While CPI figures for the December quarter will be released on Wednesday, Mr Albanese said his government had 'not only … navigated these turbulent times, but we've always kept our eye on the horizon'. 'We have inflation now down to the Reserve Bank band that they wanted to see for the first time in years, we have continued to put that downward pressure on inflation,' he said. 'We designed all of our cost of living support in a way that assisted that process.' Treasurer Jim Chalmers said Australia has made 'substantial (and) sustained progress' in the fight against inflation. 'What we have been able to do as a country, together as Australians over the course of the last couple of years has been truly remarkable,' he said. 'Other countries have had to pay for that kind of progress with much higher unemployment and we have been able to avoid that. 'Unemployment, average unemployment under this government is the lowest of any government in the last 50 years.' He also referenced government modelling that a household with two average earning workers would be about $7200 worse off without the government's Stage 3 tax cuts, and $275 energy bill rebate, all policies which the Coalition did not support. The number assumed wages would have only grown an average of 2.2 per cent a year under a Peter Dutton led government (the average growth under the Coalition government), while wages have grown by 4.9 per cent a year under Labor. However he stopped short of calling on RBA governor Michele Bullock to cut rates, saying the 'prime minister shouldn't do anything that even resembles directing the Reserve Bank governor … to make a decision on interest rates. They're independent'. Markets are tipping Wednesday's data will show headline inflation dropping to 2.5 per cent, but the all-important underlying figure is expected to stubbornly remain at 3.3 per cent. Ms Bullock has repeatedly said the RBA would not cut rates until inflation was sustainably reduced to the target band, with board members prioritising underlying inflation over headline inflation. In an address in November, Ms Bullock said there was 'still some way to go'. 'Indeed, over the past year, part of the decline in headline inflation has been due to temporary factors such as electricity rebates and declining fuel prices,' she said. 'While these temporary factors have undoubtedly helped many Australians, our approach is to look through them to some extent to better understand where inflation will settle in the medium term. 'The best way to do this is to look at underlying inflation. The measure we typically look at for this is trimmed mean inflation and by this measure, inflation was still too high.' Sign in to access your portfolio
